hippy pants - life in the pueblo

This shot was taken when I was living in a village in Barcelona this summer but hippy pants aren't strictly a summer/village item.

The hippy pant has garnered an incredibly strong following in the young hip generation. In my Dublin university, the cool artsy students can be seen wearing theirs as a stylish and acceptable way to essentially wear your pyjamas to class. They are the hip kid's sweatpants in many ways.

However their comfort is not their only recommendation. They hide all your wobbly bits and make your top half look positively svelte. You can style them down with boots and a sweatshirt for a bohemian casual look, rock them with cons and a tight tee for a simple, but fashion-forward, day look or even glamourise them with heels and a tight tank or crop top and a no-nonsense belt. They make good winter wear in ireland as you can layer them over leggings for a bright and breezy look even in less bright, more breezy, weather.

 My rainbow patchwork ones are from my beloved George's Street arcade but all my other pairs I bought in Portugal as the style hit over there well before boho was 'in' again over here. Seriously, invest in some style comfort - you won't regret it.

Get wild

My deepest apologies for my long absence beloved followers, I have been abroad all summer and just completed my big move to MOSCOW. However I owe you guys a lovely big backload of recent work, plenty of snapshots coming your way and got some new editting software so things will be looking a little more put together in future posts and less bland! Exciting stuff.

Found in a kitschy shop in a Barcelona side street I am in love with this panda pencil skirt. Makes a bold statement but the monochromatic colour scheme means you can pair it with just about anything. Looks best with heels and a bright top. 

Crop tops - how to

As it's summer this is another summery post. My lovely chum Ellie is the featured model this week. After a week of Mythfest shows together Ellie proposed we crop some of her old t-shirts (something I do with all of mine especially for summer!). All of these tops started the day with the standard tshirt shape - shorts sleeves, hip length and squarish.
The OMG t-shirt was a simple crop job - if you want an even line all around, and if like Ellie and I you have boobs, you're going to want to be wearing it when you cut it. Ask someone with steady hands to cut it to the level you want -do NOT try to cut it yourself while wearing it as it will inevitably be uneven!

The Life Café tshirt was also cropped, but not to show the belly but to be a longer crop for wearing with lower-rise jeans. To liven it up we cut holes in the back and added a bow tie in the centre to give a plain tshirt a slightly sexier look from behind.

Finally came a tshirt Ellie and I both own from the previous year's theatre festival - the Dublin Shakespeare Festival. We cut the sleeves off (always cut right at the seem to leave neat edges) to turn it into a tank top. We had to put a pin (or alternatively you can stitch) in the sides to fit the underarm fabric closer to the bust in the absence of the sleeves). 

Then we decided to do the magnum of all t-shirt cutting techniques - fringing. This technique is super easy and transforms a plain t-shirt into a festival shirt in a few swift snips. Simply choose the length of fringing you want (we shortened the hem of the shirt as it was very long, but if you can leave the lower hem your fringing will hang a little straighter) then make a cute. The best width for the fringes is about one and a half centimetres (because the sides will curl a little). Then simply cut upwards to the same height, maintaining the same width for each fringe until you have gone all the way around.  This style is also better to do while wearing the shirt so it hangs more or less evenly at the front and back. 

My last piece of advice on the fringe top is if you have one, don't fold it into a drawer - always hang it or you'll have to iron the fringing every time you want to wear it - let's face it ain't nobody got time for that. 

If you crop any of your shirts or have questions comment below or message me at alternativekitten10@gmail.com! Happy Summer!

Playsuit

Here's my outfit from my friend's going away party. The boots are Doc Martins from TKMaxx, the bold-print playsuit is also TKMaxx. I added the red bowler for colour and it's from Georges Street Arcade.
Super comfy look - was able to dance, sit one the ground and even cartwheel. The hat takes it from day to night or from casual to dressy in one move. Wear with heels and an up-do for a more high-fashion take on the playsuit or with trainers and a big cardi to keep it casual and cosy.

Photoshoot - Make-up

I like to share all things fashion that I'm involved in here on the blog and I recently got requested for this make up shoot. The theme was mermaid so they let me keep my hair au natural and the artist used fishnets to create the scale pattern all over my face and neck in translucent colours. 

Will definitely be adopting this technique in future stying and costuming work and maybe for the odd party! 

The make-up artist is Kine Good from LA Makeup academy.

sun sun sunglasses

It is finally summerrrrrrr! Hallelujah and so on. It's time to get your shades out! Whether like me you have weak little eyes that hate the sun, you want to look cooler or you just want to shield your eyes so you can perv on people sunglasses are an accessory everyone can enjoy.
                                       
I had to search out all of my beloved sunnies for a photoshoot I was potentially styling for and photographed them so I figured why not showcase the paltry collection I have which probably cost me less than a tenner all together!

So these three are in the same style - the ever popular square cut mock raybans. The first pair were bought on holidays for 4yoyos and lets be honest - who doesn't need a pair of green zebra print sunnies? I know I sure do. The other two pairs were inherited from friends and are, I believe from dear old Penneys. 

These are my newest babies which were only 4euro in Tiger. They're the big round ones that all the hip kids around Dublin are wearing. They have cute little gold stars on the bridge and their extra dark tint means they're actually ideal for checking out talent on the beach (or in the park if you're trapped in Ireland for the summer!). 

And finally, my old favourites, these were inherited from a gentlemen friend who had a second identical pair and got both sets for a pound in a market in England. The best thing about them, apart from the kitschy tortoiseshell frames, is the fact that the arms fold right up and the centre bends in half. This means they fit in even the tiniest of pockets.

I hope you all get a chance to wear yours this sunny summer! 

Braid

This has been a year of big hair colour changes. Recently my mum remarked on the incredible mix of colours when I had done it in an inside-out plait. I've had the blonde/white layer underneath for 2years now and currently have the top layer dyed half purple and half orange. Parts of green and blue from my previous dye jobs are still showing in areas though which adds a little. Soon the slate shall be wiped clean again, bleached over before I grow out my natural colour. It has been a fun ride and a joy sharing my colour journey with you all!